Embassy of Azerbaijan to co-host event at Trump's D.C. hotel

The Azerbaijani embassy will be co-hosting a Hanukkah party at President-elect Donald Trump’s Washington hotel later this month, marking the second report of a foreign nation hosting an event at the renovated Old Post Office Building.

According to an invitation obtained by POLITICO, the party “celebrating religious freedom and diversity” will be co-hosted by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a collection of national Jewish groups.

In the past, Trump has promised to sort out the possible conflicts of interests posed by his company’s affairs both domestically and internationally. The president-elect, in a flurry of tweets last week, vowed to focus solely on his duties as president and discuss his plans for the Trump Corporation’s golf courses, hotels, licensing deals and other holdings at a news conference in New York on Dec. 15.

According to a financial disclosure form he filed as a candidate last May, Trump is listed as “director, chairman and president” of a venture in Baku. The Washington Post reported, Trump's partner in Azerbaijani capital is Anar Mammadov, 35. In 2009, The State Department labeled his father, who is also the nation's transportation minister, as "notoriously corrupt even for Azerbaijan," in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

Trump reported an income of $2.5 million in connection with the deal on a 2015 disclosure form and a just under a year later added just over $323,000 in management fees.

One invitee suggested the location of the party at the president-elect’s hotel wouldn’t matter to attendees.

“I honestly couldn’t care less,” the invitee said.

News of the meeting was first reported by the Jerusalem Post. In an interview with the Post, Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice-chairman of the conference, said the group choose Trump’s hotel because of its location. He and the Azerbaijani embassy have not responded to POLITICO's request for comment.

Previously, the Bahraini embassy booked the same hotel to host an anniversary celebration for King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s accession to the throne.

As a candidate, Trump slammed Hillary Clinton for her family foundation’s ties to foreign business. He also promised to put his assets into a blind trust and let his children oversee his company. But this “blind trust,” has, according to ethics experts, been undermined by the prominent role his kids continue to play in the transition.